Celebrating National DNA Day in Loudoun County

National DNA Day on April 25 celebrates the 15th anniversary of the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003.

Loudoun County is home to many successful businesses in the biomedical field, including one that is known for something very different.

Dr. Adriaan “Jasper” Akerboom is an experienced microbiologist, brewing scientist and biochemist, and moved to Ashburn after completing his education at Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands.

Seeking to combine his knowledge of protein engineering and passion for home brewing, he started Lost Rhino Brewing Company’s brew laboratory from scratch.

Today, he is focused on his own Loudoun-based business, jasperyeast, that he co-founded in 2014. The business is located near Washington-Dulles International Airport and ships strains to brewers around the U.S.

As of 2016, Akerboom had assembled more than 200 strains of yeast from around the world, many of which have been used in commercial beers. His unusual yeast sources include prehistoric fossils, a 100-year-old Ukrainian wine, and “a barrel that was found in D.C. somewhere in a basement of an old building,” which was brewed into beer awarded grand champion at the 2015 U.S. Beer Tasting Competition.

Today, beers are being brewed across the U.S. with yeast that was isolated and stored in Loudoun County, by a microbiologist who came to Ashburn to be a neuroscientist at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus.

To learn more about the future of health innovation in Loudoun County, please join us at the Loudoun Small Business Week event “Connecting at the Nexus of Data and Health” on May 15. The all-star panel will include an introduction from Michael Perham and Dr. Kristin M. Branson from HHMI’s Janelia team:

At the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development, we’re here to help build your business. Dedicated to recruiting new business, growing our existing industries and improving our county’s business climate, we’re ready and waiting to provide a wide range of services for your company, whether you’re a start-up or well-established player.